BitterSweet
by Firelily10
Summary: Okay this is this story's second time being on here. I took it down the first time to make some revisions. Just a short Draco/Hermione story; Dramione; please review! Behind the shelves of Flourish and Blotts, two old school friends meet once more. Things have changed so much since they last met, but was it fate that brought them together again?


**Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or any of the characters, locations, and/or events that might be mentioned in this story. No copyright intended.**

**Please review!**

Hermione walked through the rows of bookshelves in the cramped little shop known as Flourish and Blotts. She knew her way around the shop well. After all, she came at least five times a month to buy new books. Hermione loved books, everyone knew that. Being in the book shop reminded her of the old library back at Hogwarts. She sighed, remembering the times where she could spend hours browsing the vast collection of novels and history books in that old library. But she had other memories of that library, memories when she wasn't alone, and she certainly wasn't reading books. In those times, she hadn't been lost in the pages of a book, rather she was lost in the eyes of another….

Ten minutes passed, then fifteen, twenty. Still she did not leave. Usually once she entered a book shop, it was hard to get her out. As much as she tried not to, curiosity would pull at her sleeve and she'd end up looking at nearly every book in the room. At the moment, she was reading the back summary of a book called _Wizards and Witches of Ancient Days_. Sooner rather than later, Hermione was completely absorbed in the old, crisp pages of the book, not noticing her surroundings at all. She was so busy, in fact, that she failed to notice a certain wizard enter Flourish and Blotts. He, however, certainly noticed her.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

It couldn't be…could it? No, no it wasn't. Should he go find out? No, he should just let it be.

Draco Malfoy went over to the History of Magic section of Flourish and Blotts, trying to focus on finding the correct textbook for his eleven year old son, Scorpius. However, his mind wasn't entirely focused on the rows of books on the shelves. In fact, his mind had wondered to the back of the shop where about five seconds ago he had noticed a certain witch. He wanted desperately to turn around and get another look at her, but he tried hard to restrain himself.

Not five minutes had passed and he found himself losing interest in looking for textbooks for his son. He slowly walked towards the aisle where this particular witch was standing, reading an old book. He stopped for a moment, looking at her. Always had her head in the books. Draco chuckled. That's the way he remembered her anyways. They'd shared so many memories together involving books. Most of these pleasant memories had taken place in that old library at Hogwarts. In fact, that's where it had all started. That was where he'd first taken a real notice of the lovely Mrs. Weasley, or Miss Granger as she had been at the time.

His legs felt like jelly as he approached her. The moment he was within three feet of her he had forgotten all about trying to look for textbooks for his son. She'd drawn him in as easily as books drew her in. She was so beautiful. He watched her beautiful brown eyes dash back and forth as she read the lines of the old book. Her hair fell in delicate curls to her shoulders, like graceful ribbons. And her lips…he remembered the sweet cherry blossom taste of them. And then he looked at the ring. It wasn't his ring. It wasn't the ring he had picked out all those years ago for her. Actually, the ring he'd picked out for her was lying at the bottom of his drawer at home, in the dust. He'd never even had the chance to show it to her, put it on her dainty finger. The sight of _this_ ring, the ring who another had given to her, made him frown. He felt a twisting pain in his stomach. It was only a bitter reminder. As if he needed one!

She hadn't noticed him yet. Maybe he could slip away. But did he want to leave without saying something to her? He wasn't sure if he could. But he knew if he tried to talk to her, his words would come out pathetic and weak. Oh great, he was starting to sound like a sixth year again! He wasn't a teenager, he was a grown man. He had class, confidence! Surely talking to an old classmate, an old friend, shouldn't be too hard. He was the one making it hard for himself.

Hermione saw him before he could say anything. She put down the book she'd been reading and smiled at him. She was wearing it. He could clearly see the gold chain around her neck. After all these years…

"Draco Malfoy, is that you?" she asked, blushing slightly.

"Um, yah…fancy seeing you here Granger, or Weasley now I suppose" Draco said. He laughed nervously, losing all sense of cool. He was making a fool of himself, he knew it! He had to get out of there.

"Well…it was nice seeing you" she said all too quickly and turned around. He sighed. Of course she wouldn't want to be around him. He turned around to go back to looking for school books but the words slipped out of his mouth.

"You still kept it?"

Hermione turned to look at him. "Kept what?"

Draco felt blood rushing to his face. Idiot, why had he said that? Now he'd brought it up, he had to say it. "The necklace. The one I gave you" he said, pointing at the golden chain around her neck.

"Oh Draco…um, this isn't that one. Ron gave this to me actually, as an anniversary present" she said, pulling out the necklace. Seeing the whole thing now he knew it wasn't the one he had given to her all those years ago. He was such a moron! What made him think she would keep that old trinket he'd given her? Now he looked like a fool.

"Oh my mistake" Draco said quickly, walking away hastily.

"I did keep it you know" she said from behind him. This made him stop in his tracks. He turned to look at her again.

"You did?"

"Yah" Hermione replied, looking a bit embarrassed. "But it's silly really. I mean, it was just an old piece of junk, wasn't it? Nothing special."

Draco felt a bit annoyed. Piece of junk? He'd spent hours picking out that necklace for her! When he'd given it to her, she'd said that it had meant the world to her. Had that been a lie? It was nice to know that nothing he'd done for her meant a thing now. He certainly still thought about those times…did she even remember them? "Oh of course. Nothing special. I mean, it wouldn't mean anything to you now. You're right. Just a worthless piece of junk from worthless memories. We were stupid kids right? Yah…" and Draco turned around to leave.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Why had she said that? Now he was upset. She hadn't meant it. But she didn't want to tell him. Didn't want him to know that every night she still looked at that. That the necklace still brought back memories. How could she have said it was a piece of junk? That necklace had meant the world to her. But, it would've been inappropriate to say that she still was fond of it, right? After all, she was a married woman! But she hadn't known that he still…he still thought about stuff like that. She'd thought that he probably didn't even remember the times they'd spent together, the things they'd done…the way she'd looked at him. The way she was still looking at him…

"No Draco I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that" she said, following Draco as he strode towards the door. He kept walking. "Draco stop being childish" she said and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He stopped and tensed at her touch. "Look."

He turned to look at her and out of her pocket she pulled the golden necklace, the one he'd given her. He stared at her. "I take it everywhere with me, for good luck. I know it's stupid but I can never bear to leave it at home."

"Really?" Draco said, sounding surprised. There was an awkward silence. "Do you…I mean, still…do you still remember? Those times…"

Hermione nodded. "How could I forget?" she said with a laugh. "Do you remember that one time during Christmas when you put snow in the hood of my sweater and I put the hood on?"

"Yah, you chased me around with enchanted snowballs all day" Draco said with a laugh. "And remember when we got locked out of the castle that one night?"

"Yes of course. It was so cold that night. We sat by the lake together, huddled close to each other. I swear you were the only thing keeping me from freezing."

"Didn't you accidently set me on fire that night, when you were trying to make a campfire?"

"Oh yes, umm, sorry about that" Hermione chuckled. Draco grinned.

"Well I've heard that setting people on fire is a sign of affection" he said sarcastically. Hermione punched him playfully in the arm.

"Well then constantly knocking me over just so you could help me pick up my books and talk to me must've been a sign of affection too?"

"At the time, yes." Draco was blushing hard now. They both started laughing. It felt as if nothing had changed since those times, like they'd gone back in time to happier days. Hermione looked at him. Those were the same silver eyes she'd fallen in love with. And those silver eyes were staring deeply into hers. So deeply. She felt something touch her hand tenderly. Part of her told her to pull away, the other told her to let it be. He was getting closer….

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Her lips were so close now. Did he dare? No, no of course not. She was married! So was he! It would be wrong, so very wrong. She'd never forgive him…but he would never be able to forgive himself if he didn't do this. He needed this. He wanted to feel that completeness, that happiness again. Now he was so close he felt like he could already taste her lips.

He heard someone walk into the shop. He could hear the voice of Scorpius and his mother. There were other voices too. Weasley's voice among them. He looked at Hermione. Her eyes looked sad, so very sad. He didn't want her to look sad, he never wanted her to look sad. But she pulled away from him, her cheeks very red. He looked down at his shoes. "I should be going now" she said quickly.

"Yes, me too" he added and he left her. He approached his wife and son. Scorpius starting talking about his new robes, but Draco was only half listening. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione approaching her family. She kissed Ron on the cheek and knelt down by her children, Rose and Hugo, and kissed them too.

He turned to his wife. "Listen, I haven't quite found all of Scorpius's books yet so meet me outside in let's say, ten minutes?" he said. His wife kissed him tenderly.

"Whatever you say dear, just don't get lost in there" she said playfully. He watched his son and wife walk out of the shop. He was watching Hermione now.

"Could you all hold on for just a second, there's one more thing I need to check. Wait outside for me, will you?" he heard Hermione say. Soon the Weasleys left. Hermione did not talk to him, didn't even look at him. Was she mad? She saw her go grab the book she'd been reading earlier. He watched he pay for it and walk towards the door. But right before leaving she turned around and smiled at him. "You'll send me an owl, won't you?"

"Of course" he replied. She winked at him and left the shop, leaving him alone in the clutter of books, just as she'd done all those years ago. Left him alone in a room filled with books.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Hermione, there's an owl for you!" Ron called from downstairs. Hermione quickly ran down and Ron held out a letter and a small package for you. "Don't know who it's from. Might be from the Harry or Ginny." Hermione didn't respond and instead ran back up to her room. She locked the door behind her.

She sat down at her desk and opened the letter slowly. It read the following:

_Dear Hermione,_

_I wanted you to have this. After all, it was meant for you. I don't know if it will mean anything to you. It might just be a souvenir from the past, or maybe just a piece of junk. Anyway, I wanted this to go to you. It was always supposed to be for you._

_Love, Draco_

Hermione tore open the package. It was a little velvet box. She opened it. Inside was a beautiful silver ring, with sparkling diamonds on it. On the inside of the ring was her name engraved on it. She smiled and slipped in on her finger.

She'd had many bittersweet moments in her life, and this was by far her favorite. She felt a single tear fall as she gazed fondly at the ring, knowing it should've been on her hand a long time ago.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

There she was again. She was wearing the ring. He smiled, but felt a pain in his chest as he walked alongside Scorpius, walking him towards the train of Platform Nine and Three Quarters. He sighed, passing Hermione and the ring. That ring should've been on her finger so long ago. And she should've been standing next to him at that moment, not standing next to Weasley. He didn't dare let a single tear fall from his eye.

That was the thing about bittersweet moment, the thing that bothered him the most. That was the thing about bittersweet moments. For one person, it truly was bittersweet, but for the other it was just plain bitter.

But he watched her turn and look at him. She smiled, as if to say 'everything is going to be fine.' He smiled. Maybe it didn't have to be so bitter, because if anything, she was sweet.


End file.
